Stopper for boiler-tubes.



No.- 760,340. PATENTED MAY 17, 1904. H. '1. MASON. STOPPER FOB. BOILER TUBES.

APPLICATION 11.31) MAR.11. 1903. no MODEL.

S A i A Q Irwin Wm I! mm M ii. ////,W I W J T i: 7/ 2 o i 1 ih$fi$ a a LM E W 0 A j r UNITED STATES Patented. May 17, 1904.

PATENT OEEIcE. I

STOPPER FOR BOILER-TUBES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of LettersPatent No. 760,340, dated May 1'7, 1904.

Application filed March 11, 1903.

To all whom it uty concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY T. MAsoN,a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stoppers for Boiler-Tubes or Hollow Shafting, of which the following is a specilication, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in stoppers for boiler-tubes or for hollow shafting; and it consists in the peculiar construction of the stopper and in the novel arrangement and combination of the various parts, as will be hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings illustrating my invention, Figure 1 is a vertical central section through a boiler-tube, showing the stopper applied; and Fig. 2, an end elevation of the stopper.

In the drawings thus briefly described the reference-letters A and B represent the boilerflue plates, C the tube extending between and engaging within openings in the plates, and

1) the stopper adapted to be applied to the tube for the purpose of sealing its opposite ends. In construction the stopper comprises an operating-rod E, having a reduced section F at what will be termed its inner end and carrying at its opposite ends the stoppers proper,.(} and H. The stopper G consists of a clamping-head H, adjustably connected to the outer end of the rod, an expansible headformed of a plurality of radial sections I, a wedge J, carrying a shank K, having a vided with a beveled or inclined face (2, which when the stopper is applied to the tube is adapted to press the peripheral portion of the packing M against the tube end. The pack- Serial No. 147,306. (No model.)

ing 0 is adapted to be expanded within the tube in a manner hereinafter set forth.

The ad ustable connection between the clamping-head H and the operatlng-rod is preferably made by a thread f on the extreme outer end of the rod which engages the clamping-head, and a lock-nut g, carrled by the rod and adapted to abut against the end" of said head, the nut serving to lock the outer expansible head of the stopper in different positions of adjustment upon the rod.

The inner expansible stopper consists of a hubbed plate or disk P, sleeved upon the reduced portion F of the rod and bearing against an abutment Q thereon in the form of a shoulder. R represents a clamping-head of considerably greater diameter than the plate P, sleeved upon the section F and adapted to bear against the inner t'ube end and the flue-plate. lnterposed between the members P and R is an expansible packing S, and T T are lock-nuts threaded upon the extreme inner end of the rod adjacent to the head R.

The clamping-head for the inner stopper is provided with two annular grooves '1; and j, in which are arranged packings Z: and e, adapted, as shown, to bear against the inner tube end and the flue-plate, respectively, in the manner indicated in Fig. 1. or represents a similar packing interposed between the head It and the immediately adjacent locking-nut T. '0 represents a polygonal section upon the rod end, forminga wrench-hold or means by which the rod may be rotated to expand the outer stopper. 7

To apply my improved stopper to theboilertube, the exact tube length is first ascertained,

and the stopper is made of substantiallythe same length by screwing the rod within or withdrawing it from the member H. The proper adjustment being effected, the jamnut g is made to abut against the member H and holds the parts in the required position. The outer stopper is then inserted within the inner end of the tube and is forced through until the sections are free, when they are antomaticall y projected by the coil-springs. The operating rod is then rotated by a suitable device applied to its polygonal end, which draws the wedge inwardly and in addition to press ing the packing M against the outer tube end expands the packing 0, thus covering and sealing the openings between the sections. The inner stopper is expanded by means of the nut T, the operating-rod being held from turning during the operation of screwing. After the packing between the plate P and its clampinghead and the makings carried by said clamping-head are compressed the nut T is locked in place by lock-nut T.

\Vhile my invention has been shown and described as applied to a boiler-tube, it will be obvious that it may be used in connection with any hollow tubing-as, for instance, hollow shafting, where it may be employed for the purpose of forming oil-reservoirs within the shafting or for strengthening the latter, as may be desired.

What I claim as my invention is- V 1. The combination with an operating-rod, of a stopper at one end thereof, comprising a wedge, radial sections inclosing the wedge, resilient means between the wedge and sections to automatically project the latter, a plate, a packing between the plate and sections, a clamping-head, and means at the opposite end of the rod for expanding the head and coinpressing the packing.

2. The combination with an operating-rod, of a stopper, ad j ustably connected to the outer end thereof, a retaining-ring passing around said head, comprising an expansible head formed of radial sections, and a packing covering the section openings, an expansible stopper at the inner end of the rod', and means at said inner end for expanding both stoppers.

3. Ina boiler-tube stopper, the combination with'a rotatable operating-rod, of a clampinghead adjustably connected to the outer end thereof, a wedge carrying a. shank with which the clamping-head has a threaded engagement, radial sections inclosing the wedge,and a packing between the clamping-head and sections, adapted upon the rotation of the rod to be eX- panded within the boiler-tube.

4. in a tube-stopper the combination with an operating-rod, of an expansible stopper at one end thereof, a similar stopper upon the opposite end comprising a plate within the tube, a clamping-head having a portion extending beyond the sides of the tube, and an interposed packing between theplate and head, and means for compressing the packing between the plate and head.

5. The combination with an operating-rod having a reduced portion at its inner end for forming a shoulder, of an expansible stopper at the outer end thereof, and a similar stop per at the inner end of the rod, comprising a plate and a clamping-head loosely sleeved upon the reduced portion and engaging said shoulder, a packing interposed therebetween, and means for clamping the plate and head to compress the packing.

6. The combination with an operating-rod provided with an abutment near its inner end, of an expansible stopper at the outer end of the rod, and a similar stopper at the inner end, comprising a disk sleeved upon the rod and bearing against the abutment, a clampinghead of greater diameter than the disk also sleeved on the rod, a packing between the head and disk, annular packing-rings arranged in grooves formed in the clamping-head and adapted to bear against the tube end and flueplate, and means for moving the clampinghead in the direction of the disk to compress the several packings.

7. The combination with an operating-rod having an abutment at its inner end, of an expansible stopper at the outer end thereof, a

stopper at the inner end, comprising a plate arranged to engage the abutment, a clampinghead loosely sleeved upon the rod, and a packing between the plate and head, means for ac tuating the clampinghead to expand the packing comprising nuts threaded upon the rod adjacent to the head, and a packing between said clamping-head and the actuating means therefor.

8. The combination with an operating-rod, of a stopper at one end thereof, comprisinga wedge, radial sections inclosing the wedge, a plate, a packing between the plate and the sections, a'clamping-head and a packing interposed between the latter and the plate, and means at the opposite end of the rod for expanding the head and compressing the pack ing.

9. The combination of an operating-rod, ofa clamping-head adjustably connected to one end thereof, a wedge carrying a shank engaging the head, radial sections inclosing the wedge and a packing covering the sectionopenings, and means at theopposite rod end for expanding the sections and compressing the packing.

10. The combination with an operating-rod,

HENRY T. MAsoN.

WVitnesses:

ALBERT MASTERTON, CLYDE S RANDOLPH. 

